2005 conclave
Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
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| Dates and location | |
|---|---|
| 18–19 April 2005 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City |
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| Key officials | |
| Dean | Joseph Ratzinger |
| Sub-Dean | Angelo Sodano |
| Camerlengo | Eduardo Martínez Somalo |
| Protopriest | Stephen Kim Sou-hwan |
| Protodeacon | Jorge Medina Estévez |
| Secretary | Francesco Monterisi |
| Election | |
| Ballots | 4 |
| Elected Pope | |
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Joseph Ratzinger (Name taken: Benedict XVI) |
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The Papal conclave of 2005 was convened as a result of the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect his successor. The conclave began on 18 April 2005 and ended the following day after four ballots. Eligible members of the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, those who were younger than 80 years of age at the time of the death of Pope John Paul II, met and elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Dean of the College of Cardinals, as the new pope. After accepting his election, he took the pontifical name of Benedict XVI.
Presiding over the conclave was the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Ratzinger from Germany. Given that Ratzinger himself was elected Pope, the duty of asking if he would accept the election and what name he would adopt (duties normally performed by the Dean) fell, in accordance with the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis, to the vice-dean Angelo Sodano.
It fell to the Cardinal Protodeacon, Jorge Medina, to make the solemn announcement of the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.
This was the first Papal election governed under provisions made by John Paul II in his Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis, promulgated on 22 February 1996. According to tradition and declaration of the Camerlengo, Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Benedict XVI is the 265th Bishop of Rome, head of both the Latin Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
In a break with recent tradition, Universi Dominici gregis provided that the cardinals were not to be locked under key in the Sistine Chapel precincts throughout the conclave. Instead they were to be lodged within the confines of the Vatican City State at the Domus Sanctae Marthae when not in session, where they did not have access to newspapers, television, radio, the Internet, or telephones for the duration of the election process.
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